A Case for Model‐Based Systems Engineering in an Agile World and Principles for Growth

Abstract

Systems engineering enabled the development of some of the greatest engineering marvels of the 20th century. With the advent of the information age and software‐centric systems, which drove a dramatic increase in system complexity, the practice of systems engineering has encountered growing pains. As organizations developing these software‐centric systems work to adopt agile software development methods, the rigor of systems engineering work has been compromised. The linguistic relativity hypothesis suggests that the cognitive ability to engineer effective systems is developed and enhanced by the “language” of systems engineering. An improved understanding of what constitutes model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) as opposed to systems modeling can improve MBSE outcomes. We put forth here that agile systems engineering, enabled by MBSE, is the bridge that will allow the principles and processes that have been developed through decades of research and experience to be applied to benefit modern systems.